The houseboat's solar panels and wooden structure can clearly be seen in the photographs, along with a handwritten note on the boat's interior which reads: "I, Rick Small, donate this structure to a homeless youth to give them a better life that Newfoundlanders choose not to do! No rent, no mortgage, no hydro."

The BBC reported that coast guard officer Michael Hurst, who secured the vessel, described the floating object as surprising. "The shape, itself, is very unusual, because of the size of it. I initially thought it might be a caravan," he said. Though no passengers were found on board, Hurst said the inside of the houseboat was "habitable."

According to the publication, Timothy John Ewart, a resident of Conception Bay in Canada, saw the vessel last year on a beach near his home and reportedly spoke to Small.

"The boats steering system was only a piece of plywood bolted to a PVC pipe. And the motors barely had enough power to move," Ewart said. "I never saw him again."

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